Just a sparrow

“The infant sees a sparrow dancing on his window ledge and he’s all full of wonder and awe. The infant is brimming with excitement and he rushes to tell his mummy about the little wonder dancing and singing on his window sill and mummy tells him it’s just a sparrow. Next day the sparrow comes back and is spotted by the infant’s playmate who’s likewise infected with awe, but the rapidly maturing child now points out to his friend, that it’s just a sparrow. This time as a child he doesn’t see something magical and wonderful he just sees another sparrow. The infant is now a child. He now has a name for the wonderful sight, a label and suddenly a step is taken, and the child is removed from reality. The magic slips away word by word, label by label. The label becomes the child’s reality.”

James Capra – The Way Within